ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some phases of projective identification, such as, the projector exerts pressure on the recipient to experience him and behave in a way congruent with the unconscious projective fantasy, and the recipient experiences himself in part as he is pictured in the projective fantasy. Projective identification is a psychological process that is at once a type of defense, a mode of communication, a primitive form of object relations, and a pathway for psychological change. In terms of communication, projective identification is a means by which the infant can feel understood by making the mother feel what her child is feeling. The only paper in which Melanie Klein discusses projective identification at any length is "On Identification". Errors in technique very often reflect a failure on the part of the therapist to contain the patient's projective identification adequately. The therapist's failure to contain the patient's projective identifications is often a reflection of what Grinberg calls "projective counteridentification."
